Chapter 2

POV Lilly

We spent the rest of the day unpacking, catching up and settling in. Mom and I explained to Jasmine and Iris what happened in California in more detail. Needless to say, they were worried about what it could mean for us but Iris waved our concerns away after a few moments.

"They wouldn't dare come here to look for you." she assured us.

"Why?" I pressed but she just shrugged.

"Trust us. Your aunt is right. We're safe here." my mom agreed and then changed the subject.

Aunt Iris made us dinner that night and we all sat down together.

"So school starts for you girls in a few days. I've already taken care of the paperwork so you'll be all set." Aunt Iris began as we ate. Mom looked worried but nodded.

"We need to talk about some rules" Mom began.

"Jasmine already knows but no going into the woods without letting us know." Iris piped in and Mom nodded in agreement.

"How are we supposed to forage?" I asked.

"You can go occasionally but not very often and only in certain places" Iris clarified.

I sighed. I was going to have a problem with this rule. I loved the forest. It calmed me and I needed to be in the wild often or I would lose my mind. I craved the wild freedom of the forest. It was the only time that I felt like I was home. I craved that feeling more than I'd like to admit. Running was taking a toll on me but I didn't want to add anymore stress to my family so I kept my mouth shut.

"Also, only go to school and then straight home" Mom continued.

"What if we want to join some groups or something?" I asked.

"If you want to do that, talk to us first and we'll decided together" Mom answered and I nodded.

"And stay together at all times" Mom finished.

Jasmine and I looked at her in surprise.

"I've already set it up so you both have the same classes. Just avoid the other kids as much as possible." Iris added.

Jasmine shook her head in confusion and I furrowed my brow.

"Why?" I demanded and Mom sighed.

"This place isn't like any other place we've been. Things are different here and no one and I mean no one can know what we are. We can't let these people in like we have in the past." Mom answered forcefully.

"Rose is right. We can't afford any slip ups. No using magic anywhere outside of the house, understand?" Iris continued. Slowly, Jas and I nodded.

"One last thing, don't ever mention me. If anyone asks, I'm not with you, okay?" Mom added.

"How are you going to hide here? Just never leave the house?" I asked and she smiled.

"No, silly. I'll use a glamour spell" she replied and I shook my head.

"Why? Who are you hiding from?" I asked but Mom and Iris wouldn't answer me.

I sighed and looked at Jasmine who shrugged.

"Can Lily and I go to the mall tomorrow to get school supplies and clothes?" Jasmine asked as we cleared the table.

Aunt Iris looked at Mom and she shrugged.

"Fine but stay together and no socializing" Iris agreed and Jasmine beamed at me.

"I'll give you both some money in the morning" she added as we went up to bed.

You might be wondering how we have any money since all we seem to do is run and move. I would wonder too. Thankfully, my Grandma had a small fortune that she and our mothers all invested wisely. I mean, I'm sure that it didn't hurt that we're witches but that's besides the point.

I was awoken the next morning to Jasmine jumping on me.

"Ugg. Jas! Get off me!" I yelled and she laughed.

"Come on! Let's get going!" she yelled back and I pushed her off me and onto the floor. I shook my head and stomped off to the bathroom.

After I showered and dressed, I came downstairs to find Mom, Aunt Iris and Jasmine all at the table for breakfast.

"Are you less grumpy now?" Jasmine demanded and I sighed.

"It's not grumpy when I have good reason to be mad. Stop jumping on me and I'll stop yelling, agreed?" I snapped. Iris and Mom laughed as Jasmine shrugged.

"Nope." she smirked and I rolled my eyes at her.

"You're still annoying" I replied as I fell into a chair.

"Here" she handed my a bagel with cream cheese and I smiled.

"Thanks" I added and she just smiled back.

That's how Jas and I always were. We could annoy each other to no end but in the end, we loved each other and would do anything to help the other. It was the same with my Aunt and Mom.

I ate quickly and then Jasmine hurried me out the door as our mothers shouted out warnings.

"Thank the Goddess" Jas muttered as we pulled away and I chuckled.

"I love that woman but she makes me batty some days. Being cooped up with her all summer has been awful" Jasmine explained as she drove.

"I know how you feel. My Mom's no picnic either" I replied and Jasmine nodded.

"I hated that we didn't get to have our birthday together. So much for a blow out sweet 16" Jasmine added bitterly.

"We can make up for it next summer. It's not all bad. Junior year, right? Only one more after this and we're free." I tried to cheer her up and she smiled.

"That's true" she agreed.

We were always the youngest in our classes but it didn't bother us. We always got high marks and besides, we were witches. Magic can help in almost every aspect of your life.

We listened to the radio for the rest of the trip and then Jas finally found a parking spot.

"It's crowded." I observed.

"Probably because of school starting." Jasmine replied and I nodded. We walked into the mall and spent a couple hours shopping before I started whining.

"Let's take a break. I'm starving" I complained. At first, Jasmine ignored me so I got more and more whiny until she caved in.

"Fine. Okay. As long as you stop" she threw up her hands in defeat and I grinned.

"Let's head to the food court" she continued.

I grinned again and followed her. After we got our food, we scouted for a table. I wasn't kidding when I said it was crowded. I spotted a small table in the corner that was empty.

"There's one, Jas." I called and motioned. She smiled and stepped towards it but stopped.

"What's wrong?" I whispered and she nodded with her chin to a group sitting near the empty table.

"Remember when I told you about the different groups at school?" She whispered back. I nodded.

"That's part of Griffin's crew. They're called the Savages. I guess they're like a gang?" she continued. I looked over and noticed that they were all wearing matching black leather coats. I shrugged.

"So? We'll stay together. They won't even notice us." I replied. She sighed but followed me.

We avoided walking near the Savages table and got to the little table without incident. Jasmine seemed to relax after we sat and we began to eat.

"So how much more shopping do you think you'll need to do?" I asked and she shrugged.

"It's you who need to shop. You barely brought anything back from Cali" She replied.

I sighed, "I know. We had to leave in a hurry. Mom was freaking out. We almost got caught, I was so scared. I can't believe how close they got and know I feel like I've made everything worse. Now we could have even more people after us."

Jasmine shook her head, "I don't know what Aunt Rose was thinking. It's too dangerous for us to separate. I don't know why she's so scared to be here but I'm so glad that she finally came to her senses."

"You know Mom, she's stubborn. She really didn't want to come back here. She kept mumbling something about a guy named Skol and almost had a breakdown. It was wild." I answered

"Skol? That's a strange name. Anyway, I'm glad that you're here. Now we can get back to our lessons. Doing them with Mom was the worst" Jasmine replied

Suddenly I realized that the Savages near us had stopped talking. It almost seemed like they were listening in on our conversation. I glanced over at them quickly and then back at Jasmine. She frowned and furrowed her brow.

I leaned toward her, "There's no way they could hear us, right?"

She shook her head but as soon as I said it, the group all started talking. It was strange. I noticed that several of them kept looking over at us and would then look like they were staring off into space for a moment.

"You were right, Jas. They are weird" I whispered. Suddenly a few of them burst into laughter while a few other shot glares towards me.

"I'm ready to go, you?" I said, completely over the strangeness.

 Jasmine nodded and we quickly dropped our trash off and headed out of the food court. As we walked out, I looked back to see the whole table staring at us.

A half an hour later and  I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. I looked at Jasmine and could tell that she felt it too. I would think that I would catch a glimpse of a Savage in the corner of my eyes but every time I looked, nothing was there. Of course, it didn't stop Jasmine from forcing me to buy way too many clothes while she did the same.

We were in our last store, (or so Jas said, but I didn't really believe her due to past experiences) when I looked up to see three kids from the Savages table heading straight towards us.

One was a tall boy with black hair. His eyes were dark brown almost black. He glared at us and everything about him just screamed angry and dangerous. One was a girl with sandy brown hair but she had blue streaks in her hair as well. She wasn't tall but she was still taller than both Jasmine and I. She looked at us carefully but held a smile on her face. It looked fake to me though. The last was another dark haired boy but his face was sweet and his smile seemed troubled but honest. He had honey brown eyes that were soft and kind.

"Hey, Jas." I elbowed her and she looked at me.

"We've got company" I whispered and nodded to the trio rapidly heading our way.

"Shit" she mumbled.